Alright everyone! Here's the next chapter. I didn't get much response for the previous one, but I do hope everyone is enjoying it. I am a bit nervous about this chapter, as I'm not quite sure I've got a handle on Harri's character yet. I do plan on going through the entirety of Harri's time at Hogwarts, andI've made a rough outline of the Philosopher's Stone. So far it looks like it'll take six chapters to get through the first year with what I've got planned. If you aren't interested in seeing Harri's journey through Hogwarts, please let me know, but NO FLAMES, please.

I hope to keep chapters the same length as the previous one (around 5k), but some may be longer while some may be shorter. I had more planned for this chapter, but it felt right to end it here. Be sure to visit my profile and participate in the poll about future pairings.

Adventures in Witchcraft and Wizardry
or
There and Back Again: A Witch's Tale

By Koinaka

Chapter Two
Down the Rabbit Hole

Harri arrived back in her compartment just in time for the train to lurch to a stop. She pushed her way through the crowd and onto the dark platform.

"Well, aren't you a naughty little toad!" she exclaimed as she caught sight of the missing toad. The toad in question was in grave danger of being crushed by the rushing students spilling forth from the train. She snatched him up before that could happen, tucking him away safely in her pocket.

Just then, a large man -- the largest Harri had ever seen -- made his way onto the platform. He had a wild mane of black hair, a bushy beard, a ruddy complexion, and a booming voice that echoed throughout the platform easily.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

After patting her pocket to make sure the toad was still there, she followed the giant to where he was waiting for the first years.

He gave a last glance towards the crowd before facing them and calling out once more, "C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Harri shivered as they made their way down a narrow path, stumbling only slightly as she navigated the path in the dark. She gasped as they came around the curve and arrived at the edge of a lake. Across the lake, glittering in the moonlight like something out of one of her storybooks, was a castle.

"Hogwarts," she breathed.

It was amazing. It was unreal. It was magical. It was to be her home for the next seven years. She couldn't believe how lucky she was!

"No more'n four to a boat!" the giant called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

The first year students began climbing into them. Harri looked around before noticing the toad's owner. He was sitting with the twins' brother and the bushy-haired girl. She waved to them and made her way over to their boat.

She gave the toadless boy a smile as she climbed in. "I was hoping to see you again," she told him. She pulled the wiggling toad out from her robe pocket. "I found him on the platform."

"T-thanks," the boy replied, flashing Harri a watery smile.

"I'm Harri, by the way," she told them.

"Neville Longbottom."

"Ron Weasley."

"Hermione Granger."

Harri sighed as the boat began to move. "I heard a squid lives in the lake. I do hope we see it. That would be brilliant, don't you think?"

Neville gulped. "A squid?" he asked nervously.

She nodded excitedly. "Ron's brothers told me all about it. Don't worry about it, though," she added hastily at Neville's fearful expression. "It almost never pulls a student overboard."

"Almost never," Neville repeated in a horrified tone.

"According to Hogwarts, a History, the last time was a hundred and fifty years ago. They found the boy's remains on the shore the next morning," Hermione informed them primly.

Harri glared at the other witch as both Ron and Neville scooted away from the edges of the boat. Before she could respond though, they pulled up to a sort of underground chamber. When they stopped, she and her three companions clambered out of the boats.

The students followed the giant and his bobbing light up a narrow set of stairs until they reached a large wooden door. He lifted his large beefy hand and knocked three times on the door. The door opened at once to reveal a stern-looking witch. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall before ushering them inside a large stone corridor. She then left them with the instructions to ready themselves for their sorting.

Harri gasped loudly as four pearly-white forms floated past them. She turned to a dark-skinned boy that was standing beside her. "Are those... ghosts?" she asked.

He gave her a withering look before nodding tersely. "Obviously."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "There's no need to be rude, you know," she said coolly before spinning on her heels abruptly and stalking over to where Neville and Ron were standing.

A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall ushered them through a wide corridor and into an even larger room. In all of her wildest imaginings, she never could have thought of a more wonderful place than this. Instead of electric lights, the room was lit up by the soft glows of tens of thousands of floating candle. Instead of a ceiling, the Great Hall opened up to the sky. From where she was standing, she could see literally hundreds of twinkling stars as well as the moon high in the sky.

"There's no ceiling. How do you think they managed that?" she asked Ron.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but it's brilliant."

Harri quite agreed with him.

There was a delicate snort behind her. "There is a ceiling. It's just bewitched to show the sky outside. I read all about it in Hogwarts, a History."

Harri's eyes narrowed until they were little more than slits. She opened her mouth to tell Hermione that perhaps she ought to spend a little less time reading and more time practicing on how not to be an insufferable know-it-all when the dusty old hat they'd been led in front of opened its wide-brim and began to sing.

When it had finished, Professor McGonagall peered at the first years over her square-rimmed glasses. "When I call your name, please step forward to be sorted."

Beside her, Ron grumbled. "Fred told me that we had to wrestle a troll, but all we have to do is put on a mangy old hat!"

Harri turned her attention back to the sorting in time for Susan Bones to be sorted into Hufflepuff. She became more nervous as time went on. By the time Draco Malfoy, the awful boy from the robes' shop, was sorted into Slytherin, she was a bundle of nerves. Wouldn't it just be awful if the Hat refused to sort her? She didn't think she could stand going back home now that she'd seen a glimpse of what it was like here.

Finally, it was to be her turn. McGonagall paused before calling out her name, "Potter, Harrietta."

The hall suddenly came to life. Harri ignored the stares and whispers as she made her way to the front. She raised her hand in greeting to the twins who were smiling broadly at her from their place at the Gryffindor Table. When she was perched on the edge of the stool, McGonagall dropped the hat on her head. It easily covered her entire head. From within the dark confines of the hat, Harri heard a soft voice whispering in her head.

"Just put me in Gryffindor already," she said after listening to the Hat debate for several minutes. "Where dwell the brave at heart! That's me in one."

"Gryffindor, you say? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness," countered the Hat.

"Anywhere but Slytherin."

"Well, if you're sure, better be -- GRYFFINDOR!"

The hall erupted in thunderous applause. Harri's face was as red as her hair as she made her way over to the Gryffindor Table. Fred and George shoved over to make room for her on the bench.

"Glad that's over!" she said. "It was a near miss there for a while."

George gave her a wide grin. "We never doubted you for a mo', Harri."

"You're a Gryffindor through and through!" Fred chirped. "Not like us. The Hat wanted to put us in Slytherin, but we convinced it not to-- ow!" He cried as George cuffed him on the back of the head. He grumbled to himself as he rubbed his head. "What'dya do that for?"

"Pay attention, git. Ron's about to be sorted!"

Harri turned her attention back to the front of the room. Sure enough, Ron was making his way to the Sorting Hat, looking quite ill.

"He's a bit green, don't you think?" she asked the twins.

Fred guffawed. "I'll bet you," he paused and rummaged through his pocket, "five sickles that the Hat puts him in Hufflepuff."

"I'll take that, but if he's put in Gryffindor, you have to serve all of my detentions for the next fortnight."

The twins shook on it just in time to hear the hat shout out, "Gryffindor!"

Finally, with Blaise Zabini -- the rude boy from before -- being sorted into Slytherin, the sorting was over.

The headmaster, the same man she'd seen on her chocolate frog trading card, stood, stretched his arms wide open, and began to speak. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I would just like to say a few words before we begin: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

He clapped once and all of the previous empty plates that were lined up on the table were now heavy with food.

"Wicked," Harri breathed. "How'd they do that?"

"House elves," George told her around a mouthful of food.

"There are loads of them down in the kitchens," Fred continued. "We'll show them to you one day, if you want."

"What's a house elf?" she asked then.

"You'll see. Most of them are completely nutters, but most of them are alright, I suppose," George said, gesturing wildly with his fork.

By the time the feast was over, Harri was more than pleasantly full. She'd never had such wonderfully tasty things to eat in her entire life. She'd eaten far more than she ought to have, though that was nothing to the amount of food that the twins combined managed to consume. Between the two of them, they'd consumed an entire treacle tart.

Before her eyes, all of the plates and goblets on the table vanished at the same time that Dumbledore stood to give the start of term announcements. Harri listened raptly as the Headmaster spoke of forbidden forests and restricted corridors that could result in a most gruesome death. It all sounded terribly thrilling to her. She could hardly wait to start exploring the castle! Not to mention the forest!

"How many animals live in the forest, do you think?" she asked George as they were filing out of the Great Hall. Fred and Lee were ahead of them discussing Quidditch with another Gryffindor third year, Angelina Johnson.

George shrugged absently. "Loads, I reckon. More than animals live there, though. There's magical creatures, too. And centaurs," he added. "Can't forget the centaurs."

"What sort of creatures? You mean like... dragons and the like?" she pressed.

"Nah," he said. "Can't keep dragons in Britain. It's illegal, you see. No, dragons live on reserves, mostly. My brother Charlie works on one in Romania. But there are all sorts of creatures in the forest. Most of them are harmless, like unicorns and --"

Harri cut him off with a gasp. "Unicorns are real?"

"'Course they are," Fred cut in, slinging his arm across his brother's shoulders, "But if it's creatures you're interested in, we'll have to introduce you to Hagrid. He's dead brilliant!"

"First years, follow me!" a red haired boy called. He was surveying the Gryffindors, but he was looking at Harri in particular.

"Best go on, then, Harri. Wouldn't want Percy the Prefect to dock points on your very first night!" George practically crowed.

"We'll wait for you in the Common Room tomorrow before breakfast," Fred called after her as she hurried to join the other first years.

Once Harri was in tow, Percy began to lead them through the crowds and up a massive marble staircase. She observed her new home with wide-eyed wonder as they passed by talking portraits, went behind sliding passageways, and underneath large tapestries took up entire rooms.

No sooner had Percy issued the warning to be wary of the moving staircases did the one they were on move. Harri let out a delighted laugh, but Neville, who was beside her, gripped the railing of the staircase so tightly, his knuckles turned white.

On and on they went through the twisting corridors, stopping only long enough for Percy to threaten a rather ugly little man called Peeves. Finally, they came to a stop at the end of the corridor in front of a portrait of a very large woman in a shockingly pink dress.

Percy gave the password and the portrait swung open to reveal the Gryffindor Common Room. The common room was full of very comfortable looking armchairs, and the entire room was painted a bright red. Once everyone had managed to climb into the common room, Percy led the girls through the door that would lead up to their dormitory.

The girls climbed one last set of stairs before they found themselves in their room. Besides their trunks, which had already been brought up, the room held four wonderfully large beds. They were the biggest beds Harri had ever seen, and each bed was surrounded by deep red, velvet curtains. It was only upon seeing the beds that she even realized just how tired she was.

Fred and George were waiting for her the next morning just as they had promised which was lucky as she didn't think she would have managed to find her way to the Great Hall alone.

"Don't worry," George told her as he scooped mounds of eggs onto his plate.

Fred nodded enthusiastically. "You'll be fine. Besides, we'll help you if you need it."

It turned out that Harri was fine -- mostly. True, she and Neville had gotten horribly lost on their way to their first class, but they had found it. Eventually. Plus, getting lost meant that she got to explore the castle which she thought was brilliant.

Until she and Neville got turned around on the third floor and ended up at the entrance of the restricted corridor, that is. They hadn't even meant to be on the third floor, but when the staircase had moved on their way down to lunch, Harri had taken it as a sign of serendipity. Of course, their claims of being lost hadn't stopped Argus Filch, the caretaker at Hogwarts, from reprimanding them. Nor had it stopped his ratty looking cat from hissing at them. Luckily, Professor Quirrell had turned up and saved them from a most certain death-by-torture.

By the end of her first week at Hogwarts, Harri had discovered something very important about her new roommates: they were absolutely horrid. She thought that Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil might just be the silliest girls in the entirety of the United Kingdom while she was sure that Hermione Granger had memorized Hogwarts, a History. In fact, Harri was quite certain she had memorized all of the books she'd brought with her.

The classes themselves were... different. Learning magic was dead fun, but it was also really difficult. A lot more difficult than she thought it would be. Transfiguration was her most favorite class, but it was followed closely by Charms. She didn't mind Herbology, but she found History of Magic and Astronomy to be rather uninteresting. In fact, she could scarcely keep her eyes open in either class!

Potions was her least favorite class by far mostly due to the fact that Professor Snape had turned out to be a bullying git. He didn't say much to Harri as he seemed perfectly satisfied to ignore her very presence, going so far as to overlook her even when she had a question. No, the person he'd chosen to terrorize was Neville. Poor Neville was absolutely terrified of him. It didn't help that Neville was more than helpless at Potions. Harri had partnered with him during their class, but that hadn't helped much as she hadn't a clue what to do in Potions either. It wasn't too much of a surprise that the two of them together had ended up melting their cauldron. It could have been worse, though. Their cauldron could have actually exploded like Ron and Seamus' had.

Despite their horrid morning, Harri was positively beaming as the Gryffindor first years made their way down to lunch after Potions. For one thing, it was the first time all week that they hadn't gotten lost. For another, it was Friday. The twins had been busy scrambling to finish their summer homework all week long, so there hadn't been much time to take Harri exploring. To make it up to her, they had promised to take her around today. Not only had they promised to take her around, but they had promised to introduce her, properly, that is, to Hagrid, the giant man who'd taken the first years across the lake when they'd arrived at Hogwarts.

After lunch, Harri and the twins had headed across the grounds to the hut where Hagrid lived. She had invited Neville along, but he was much too shaken up from Potions to go. Of course, the twins hadn't helped matters by telling him they would be going into the forest.

The moment the giant answered the door, a large -- very large -- dog had launched itself at Harri, knocking her over and licking her face until the slobber was literally dripping off of it.

"Sorry 'bout that," Hagrid apologized as he pulled the large dog off by its collar. "So, what brings yeh here today, Weasleys? Not been tryin' to sneak into the forest, have yeh?"

Fred widened his eyes as George fluttered his eyelashes, both adopting a look of betrayal. "Would we do that?" Fred asked.

Hagrid grunted. "Yeh know yeh would. I spent half me life chasin' yeh away from the forest."

George let out an affected sniff. "Well, today we have a mission of the utmost importance. It seems young Miss Potter here," he gestured towards Harri, "is interested in hearing more about magical creatures."

"And," said Fred, picking up where George stopped, "we told her you were the resident expert, so to speak."

Hagrid blinked several times before he turned to look at Harri. He sniffed loudly and blew his nose into a dirty handkerchief that he'd pulled from his robe. "Haven't seen yeh since yeh were a baby!" He sniffled several more times before mopping his face with the dirty handkerchief. "How 'bout a spot o' tea?"

The three of them spent the afternoon with Hagrid, drinking tea and pretending to eat rock cakes while he told Harri all about taking care of the magical creatures in the forest.

As they left Hagrid's, Harri eyed the forest with a great deal of interest. "We should try and sneak in," she said. "Wouldn't it be wonderful to see a real live unicorn?"

George and Fred exchanged wary glances. "Tomorrow," Fred promised. "It's never really safe to go in there, but it's especially not safe after dark."

"What could be so dangerous about going into the forest at night?" she asked. "Unless you're afraid of the dark..."

"I'm -- we're -- not afraid of the dark, but only someone with a death wish would want to go into the forest when there are vampires and werewolves milling about! It'd be a right shame to die after only one week at Hogwarts, wouldn't it? We haven't even had a chance to show you the secret passages."

"Secret passages?"

The twins nodded eagerly.

"Alright," Harri agreed easily. While she wasn't afraid, she wasn't too keen on actually dying.

True to their words, the twins spent the next day showing her the various secret tunnels in Hogwarts.

"This statue," Fred said, pointing to an ugly statue of a hunch-backed witch, "leads to the cellar of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade."

"What's that?"

"What's that, she asks," cackled George. "It's only the best candy shop in Britain. Now that Fred and I are third years, we'll be able to go without having to sneak out."

"Not to mention Zonkos," Fred sighed. "That's a joke shop," he added at her curious look.

After showing her the passageways, the trio had headed outside and across the grounds. They tried several times to gain entry into the forest only to be stopped by Hagrid every time.

"We'll manage it sooner or later," Fred assured her before leaving to serve detention with Filch.

Both of the twins had detention, so Harri spent the first part of Saturday night curled in one of the squashy armchairs rereading one of her all-time favorite books, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. She spent the second half of the night learning how to play Exploding Snap with the first year boys.

"All you have to do," the Irish boy, Seamus Finnigan, explained, "is tap the top of the card with the identical picture with your wand."

It sounded much easier than it actually was, but Harri loved it all the same.

The twins and Lee joined the game after their detentions and their. It was so late when the game broke up that her eyelids were so heavy she could scarcely keep them open long enough to climb the stairs to her room.

Time seemed to move on hyper speed now that she was at Hogwarts. In no time at all, it was the day that Harri had most been looking forward to: flying lessons. Nothing, not even having to share the lesson with the Slytherins, could dim her excitement.

Neville, who had become nearly her closest friend – besides the twins, of course – was certain he would make a fool of himself.

"I've hardly any magic," he confessed to her in a hushed tone. "I don't know how I managed to get into Hogwarts at all!"

"That's nonsense!" she declared. "They wouldn't let you in if you only had enough magic to get by. Besides, I've seen you in classes. You'd be quite good if only you weren't so scared of failing all the time. You have to have more confidence, that's all."

Neville looked at her skeptically. "But I do fail a lot of the time. I couldn't even stand up to Malfoy when he took my Remembrall during breakfast. I heard the other boys say it was a wonder I hadn't been put in Hufflepuff with the way I carried on."

"Who said that?" she demanded, her eyes flashing angrily.

"No one," he said quickly. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

Harri considered him for a long moment before nodding. "Don't put any merit in what they say – especially if one of them was Ron. Practically afraid of his shadow, he is. I'll have to get the twins to tell you about the time to they changed his teddy-bear into a spider. Now, about flying, the twins told me you mustn't be nervous. The broom will sense if you aren't, and that wouldn't be good at all."

She was very nearly giddy as the Gryffindors headed down towards the clearing for their lessons. She was about to learn how to fly! On an actual broomstick! It was going to be fantastic.

Madam Hooch, the hawk-like woman who taught flying, was waiting for them. She issued her instruction to step up to a broom in a no nonsense tone of voice.

"Remember," Harri whispered to Neville, "don't be nervous."

But she was clearly wasting her breath as Neville was already pale and more than a little twitchy, and he hadn't even attempted to get his broom to move yet.

Harri's broom flew into her hand with such force that she winced. "That smarts," she muttered with a pleased smile on her face. Neville's didn't move at all.

After everyone had managed to get their brooms to respond to their commands, Hooch moved on to how to mount and how to lift off.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, kick off hard. Rise a few feet, just a few, mind you, before coming back down."

She hadn't even begun to count, however, when Neville kicked off far harder than was necessary. Harri watched in horror as he flew more than twenty feet into the air, spinning dangerously as he did.

"Be careful, Neville!" she called. "Remember what I told you!"

That was exactly the wrong thing to say because he paled even further than before and immediately slid off the broom. He fell into a heap on the ground with a sickening crack.

Hooch pronounced him to have a broken wrist and led him off to the Infirmary with the instructions for the class to leave their feet planted firmly on the ground or face expulsion.

Harri had every intention on adhering to that rule as she had no desire to be expelled. That all changed when Malfoy had picked up Neville's Remembrall.

"Give it back, Malfoy," she snapped.

"Sticking up for your boyfriend, Potter?" Malfoy said with a nasty smile. "Did you hear that, Blaise? Poor Longbottom is so pathetic that he has to rely on a girl to fight his battles for him."

She brandished her wand at him, then. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Malfoy shrugged carelessly. Seemingly nonplussed, he turned back to his friends. "I think I'll leave this somewhere Longbottom can find it – like in a tree!"

With that, he jumped on his broom and took off. Harri didn't give it a second thought. She ignored Hermione's cries that she would get them all into tremendous trouble and jumped on her broom.

Flying was every bit as fun as she thought it would be. A giggle flew out her lips as the wind whipped through her hair. Flying was as natural as breathing to her.

Malfoy hadn't expected her to follow him, if the expression on his face when he caught sight of her was anything to go on.

"Give it to me," Harri demanded as she turned her broomstick sharply to face him.

A look of shock flitted across his face, but he recovered quickly. "Catch it if you can," Malfoy said and let the ball drop.

Harri didn't hesitate at all. She leaned forward and pointed her broom handle down before diving after the ball. Right before she would have hit the ground, the ball fell into her outstretched hand. She had only just enough time to pull her broom straight before toppling to the ground.

The Gryffindors started clapping loudly, but Harri didn't have time to enjoy it because coming towards her, looking angrier than any one person had right to look, was Professor McGonagall. Her lips were set into a tight line as she barked for the crowd to disperse.

"Come with me, now, Miss Potter."